Food tastes better when you quit - Food starts to smell and taste better about 48 hours after you quit smoking. This might lead to more food cravings, particularly cravings for sugary foods.

Food can distract from nicotine cravings - It is possible for quitters to mistake nicotine cravings for hunger. Quitters can also use food to distract themselves from nicotine cravings.

Food can replace the ‘hand-to-mouth’ smoking action - The action of putting your hand to your mouth to smoke is a comforting habit. Smokers’ hands and mouths often become fidgety when they quit and food and gum can help satisfy this desire to fidget.

How to Avoid Weight Gain

Exercise, dieting and nicotine replacement therapies can all be used to prevent weight gain when you quit smoking.

Exercise

When you quit smoking, your metabolism slows down, so your body burns calories slower. Even if you eat the same as you did when you were smoking, you can still put on weight.

Taking moderate exercise could mean simple things in your everyday life. You could walk where you might otherwise drive , for example, or take the stairs where you would have previously used an elevator.

Dieting is tough, but not as tough as quitting smoking. If you are struggling to juggle dieting and quitting, most stop smoking services will recommend that you concentrate on quitting first and think about your food intake later.

With that being said, there are some simple things that you can do to limit your weight gain while you ditch tobacco. Eating a healthier diet can also help you realise more of the benefits of stopping smoking.

You can combat hunger pangs and nicotine cravings by carrying a store of healthy treats around with you. Nuts, fruit and vegetable sticks make great healthy snacks and they can help satisfy your hand-to-mouth cravings.

Another strategy is to eat smaller portion sizes until your metabolism stabilizes. Chew your food slowly and savor each mouthful.

Remember that it takes 20 minutes for the body to feel full, so take a break after eating before you go back for a second helping.

Nicotine replacement therapy

As well as helping you ditch tobacco, nicotine replacement therapies can help boost your metabolism and satisfy cravings.

There are dozens of nicotine replacement therapies on offer including nicotine patches, nicotine gums and special lozenges.

The FDA has also approved two smoking cessation medicines that do not contain nicotine. Chantix and Zyban are both available in tablet form and by prescription only.

Chantix acts in your brain to inhibit the rewarding effects of nicotine. The precise way that Zyban helps with smoking cessation is so far unknown.

E-cigarettes are not currently approved by the FDA as stop smoking aids. But most vaping products contain nicotine and many former smokers have used e-cigarettes to help them ditch tobacco.

One recent study from the UK found that vaping helps support long-term smoking abstinence. Funded by Cancer Research UK, the study found that e-cigarettes helped hardened smokers and people who didn't even want to stop smoking quit.